Automatic cutting device



Feb. 2, 1965 R. L. JACOBS 3,167,

AUTOMATIC CUTTING DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1960 QMEZW United States Patent 3,167,986 AUTOMATIC CUTTING DEVICE Robert L. Jacobs, Hilliard, ()hio, assignor to Industrial Nucleonics Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 73,719 3 Claims. (til. 83-460) This invention relates generally to cutters for electrical wires and electrical insulation and more particularly to method and means for automatically cutting a continuous length of electrical wire, spaghetti tubing, or the like, into pieces or units of predetermined length.

The wiring of many electronic devices requires a considerable number of pieces of hollow tubular insulation commonly referred to as spaghetti to protect adjacent wires and terminals from accidentally shorting. Spaghetti is commercially available in standard size lengths or in rolls of continuous tubing. If a quantity of units are being assembled on a line, a large supply of spaghetti of a certain length is required. Heretofore it has been the practice to visually measure and manually trim lengths from the roll. This has proven to be a tedious and time-consuming operation which wastes many man-hours better spent in more productive phases of the assembly line. There have been introduced automatic cutters to replace the manual task; however, they have not been satisfactory. These prior art cutters are based on the principle of controlling the speed of the feed rolls to control the length to be cut. With tubing that is hollow and also having an oily surface slipping of the gripping rolls have caused these prior art devices to be very erratic.

The present invention provides an automatic cutter in which the spaghetti tubing is fed forward and eventually strikes a limit switch. A knife rapidly severs the tubing which falls by gravity to a collecting bin to allow another piece to be cut. The separation between knife and the limit switch is adjustable to provide pieces of any desired length.

Accordingly it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an accurate automatic cutter for spaghetti tubing and the like.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cutter which does not require the attendance of an operator for an extended period of time.

It is also another object of the present invention to provide a cutter which produces more pieces per unit operating time than similar devices used heretofore.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cutter which is readily adjustable to provide pieces of any desired length.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a cutter which is simpler to construct and cheaper to maintain than similar devices heretofore available.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a preferred construction for the cutter shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings and specifically to FIG. 1, a motor 8 drives a continuous length of spaghetti 10 in the direction indicated by the arrows, by means of a pair of feed wheels 12. The spaghetti strikes a limit switch 14 which couples an operating potential from a power supply 16 to a solenoid 18. A movable knife 20 is mounted a predetermined distance from the limit switch 14 and actuated by the solenoid 18.

Referring now to FIG. 2 wherein the mechanical construction of the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, the cutter and switch are mounted in a housing 22 having an upstanding member 22a fixed to one 3,167,986 Patented Feb. 2, 1965 end of a base 2212. An aperture 24 is drilled at one end of the upstanding member 22a. Normally positioned adjacent one side of the aperture 24 is a slotted blade 26 extending into a rectangular shaped solenoid 28 mounted by bolts 30 to the upstanding member 22a. A pair of screws 32 also fastened to the upstanding member 22a serve to preserve the unilateral motion of the knife blade 26 during its travel. A limit switch 34 having its actuating arm 34a opposite the aperture 24 is a pivotally mounted at 36 to a movable plate 38. Y

The position of the limit switch relative the upstanding member 220 is coarsely adjustable by sliding the plate 38 in slots 42 and 44 milled in the base 22b. The plate 38 may be secured by tightening a bolt 46 passing through a slot 40 centrally located in the base 22b. A retaining nut may be provided for the bolt 46 and made slidable in a counter-bored portion (not shown) of the slot 40 on the underside of the base. Other expedients well known to those skilled in the art may be equally advantageous. A fine positioning of the limit switch 34 may then be achieved by sliding a screw 48 in an arcuate slot 50 provided in the slidable plate 38.

In the operation of the present invention the spaghetti tubing 10 is fed through the slot 24 to strike the limit switch arm 34a. The solenoid 28 is actuated, and the blade 26 severs the tubing 10. The severed length of tubing falls to release the arm 34a thereby deenergizing the solenoid 28. The feed wheels 12 will slip on the tubing 10 when the blade covers the aperture 24 but as soon as the blade retracts, the tubing 12 is immediately fed forward.

When it is desired to cut long pieces of relatively thinwalled tubing a support 52 having a curved end portion 52a may be inserted in a slot 54 in the solenoid housing to enable the tubing to engage the arm 34a. It has also been found advantageous to provide a shallow bored region in the face of the upstanding member 22a opposite to the knife blade 26. As the blade travels, the severed piece is shoved away from the aperture 24. The spring tension in the actuating arm 34a of the limit switch tends to push the cut end of the severed length into the bored region 24a. The bored region 24a allows the arm 34a to retract enough to deenergize the solenoid 28. This construction prevents any severed length from jamming between the surface of the upstanding member 22a and the microswitch actuating arm 34a.

Although there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cutting pieces having a predetermined length from a continuous stock of longitudinal extent comprising,

a housing having a base member and .an upstanding member having an inside face abutting thereagainst,

a transverse bore in said upstanding member for receiving said continuous stock,

a cutter blade having one surface mounted flush against said inside face of said upstanding member and having a beveled surface opposite said fiush mounted surface for deflecting cut pieces away from said cutter blade,

a shallow recess provided in said inside face of said upstanding member on the opposite side of said bore from said cutter blade for receiving the cut ends of said pieces deflected by the beveled side of said blade,

a limit switch having a spring-loaded actuating arm positioned in horizontal alignment with said bore and located at a distance from said cutter blade equivalent to said predetermined length,

for confining said cutter blade to horizontal movement from a first position away from said bore to a second position over said bore,

means for feeding said stock through said bore toward said iimit switch,

cutter blade drive means energized by said limit switch to move said cutter blade from said first position to said second position upon actuation of said switch -by said stock andvincludingmeans for automatically withdrawing 's'aid cutter'blad-eto said first position.

-2-. Appar-Iatu's "as set forth in claim 1 which further includes means for varying the distance between said switch arm and said blade -to-alter the length of said out pieces.

4 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 which further includes means between said switch arm and said bore for supporting said stock.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,874,556 Townsend et a1 Dec. 9, 1930 1,942,069 Seto'guchi et al Jan; 2, 1934 2,546,390 Donner Mar. 27, 1951 2,719,941 Presenz -Oct, 4, 1955 2,798,548 Leirer July 9, 1957 2,970,504 Kingsley s Feb. 7, 1961 

1. APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PIECES HAVING A PREDETERMINED LENGTH FROM A CONTINUOUS STOCK OF LONGITUDINAL EXTENT COMPRISING, A HOUSING HAVING A BASE MEMBER AND AN UPSTANDING MEMBER HAVING AN INSIDE FACE ABUTTING THEREAGAINST, A TRANSVERSE BORE IN SAID UPSTANDING MEMBER FOR RECEIVING SAID CONTINUOUS STOCK, A CUTTER BLADE HAVING ONE SURFACE MOUNTED FLUSH AGAINST SAID INSIDE FACE OF SAID UPSTANDING MEMBER AND HAVING A BEVELED SURFACE OPPOSITE SAID FLUSH MOUNTED SURFACE FOR DEFLECTING CUT PIECES AWAY FROM SAID CUTTER BLADE, A SHALLOW RECESS PROVIDED IN SAID INSIDE FACE OF SAID UPSTANDING MEMBER ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID BORE FROM SAID CUTTER BLADE FOR RECEIVING THE CUT ENDS OF SAID PIECES DEFLECTED BY THE BEVELED SIDE OF SAID BLADE, A LIMIT SWITCH HAVING A SPRING-LOADED ACTUATING ARM POSITIONED IN HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID BORE AND LOCATED AT A DISTANCE FROM SAID CUTTER BLADE EQUIVALENT TO SAID PREDETERMINED LENGTH, MEANS FOR CONFINING SAID CUTTER BLADE TO HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT FROM A FIRST POSITION AWAY FROM SAID BORE TO A SECOND POSITION OVER SAID BORE, MEANS FOR FEEDING SAID STOCK THROUGH SAID BORE TOWARD SAID LIMIT SWITCH, CUTTER BLADE DRIVE MEANS ENERGIZED BY SAID LIMIT SWITCH, TO MOVE SAID CUTTER BLADE FROM SAID FIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION UPON ACTUATION OF SAID SWITCH BY SAID STOCK AND INCLUDING MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY WITHDRAWING SAID CUTTER BLADE TO SAID FIRST POSITION. 